In this artist's concept provided by The Boeing Co. is the 777-9X, the largest of the aerospace company's new family of 777X jetliners. Boeing currently has more than a dozen states in competition from coast to coast offering property, billions of dollars of tax breaks, favorable labor deals and customized employee training hoping that Boeing will choose them to assemble its new 777X jetliner. (AP Photo/The Boeing Co.)

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SEATTLE >> Leaders in the International Association of Machinists publicly differed Friday on whether to bring Boeing’s latest contract offer to a vote, exposing tensions within the union over how to handle the high-stakes negotiations over where the 777X airliner will be built.

National union spokesman Frank Larkin said Friday that officials were exploring the idea after hundreds of members demanded an opportunity to vote on the contract to secure work on the 777X airplane. Larkin said members have always had the final say and that they have every right to vote on the terms of the offer. But union officials said Friday they don’t see any point in bringing it to a vote because it’s too similar to a contract the union rejected a month ago.

Government officials and aerospace workers in California, specifically Long Beach, and states throughout the country hoping to secure some of the production work for the 777X are closely following the intense negotiations.

“So, until Boeing changes its conditions, we don’t have an offer to vote on,” District 751 President Tom Wroblewski said in a statement.

A latest round of contract talks collapsed Thursday after local officials with the Machinists said they could not recommend Boeing’s latest proposal to members. Local Machinists spokesman Bryan Corliss says Boeing has withdrawn the contract offer.

Boeing spokesman Doug Alder, however, said the offer was rejected by the union, not withdrawn. He declined further comment Friday.

Local union officials have seemed to disagree with their national leaders in recent weeks on how to handle Boeing’s offers. That division was clear last month, when local union members voted to reject a contract negotiated by IAM leadership.

Boeing and the Machinists have been exploring a deal that would secure the production of the new 777X airplane in the Puget Sound and the thousands of jobs that come with it.

On Friday, Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, released a letter signed by him and 46 other members of California’s congressional delegation from both sides of the aisle to Boeing CEO James McNerney.

The letter, dated Dec. 5, was included in California’s official bid to Boeing for work on the plane.

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“We have the best, most efficient aerospace workforce in the nation. They have proved it over and over again: on environmental issues, on safety issues, and on performance issues,” Lowenthal said in a statement. “I am willing to do whatever I can and work with Boeing, the City of Long Beach, and Governor Brown to see our highly skilled workforce continue to do what it does best—build world-class aircraft. This would be a win for Long Beach, for California, and for Boeing.”

This week, Boeing made some changes to its original contract offer, backing away from a proposal that would slow the rate at which employees rise up the pay scale and adding an additional $5,000 in bonus pay. The biggest sticking point appears to be the company’s insistence that workers move from a traditional defined-benefit pension to a defined-contribution savings plan.

The local machinists said the company’s latest proposal was too high of a price to pay to secure the 777X.

“I think you’ll agree these were very minor changes, and not nearly enough to offset the things Boeing was trying to take away from you, and for the Machinists who will join us in the future,” Wroblewski wrote in a message to members Friday morning.

Looming over the talks is the prospect that the company could build the airplane elsewhere. Boeing said it has received proposals from 22 states eager for the 777X jobs, with some proposing multiple sites. The company said 54 sites are now being evaluated.

In its own bid to win the 777X jobs, Washington state recently approved tax breaks for Boeing valued at $9 billion over the coming years, along with legislation to improve aerospace training programs and the permitting process.

Chicago-based Boeing began offering the 777X in May, but it’s still finalizing plans for the plane and aiming to deliver the first aircraft by the end of the decade. Boeing has said it is expected to carry as many as 400 passengers and be more fuel efficient than the current 777.

At the Dubai Airshow last month, Boeing received orders for 225 such planes from three airlines.